County Seeks Public Input on Retail Pot Issues; Last Meeting This Month March 29

There will two meetings in Mono County this week on March 27, in the Tri Valley area and on Wednesday, March 29 in Crowley Lake, to allow residents to weigh in on how to manage the sale of recreational use marijuana in Mono County in the wake of a voter-approved measure to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.
The new law, Prop. 64, “allows Californians who are 21 and older to possess, transport and buy up to 28.5 grams of marijuana and to use it for recreational purposes,” according to the law. Residents are also allowed to grow up to six plants in their homes for personal use, as of Nov. 9, 2017, expanding a law that 20 years ago legalized marijuana for medical use in California.
The question for local jurisdictions is about the sale of recreational use pot, which will become legal Jan. 1, 2018 and under the provisions of Prop 64, must only be done by a licensed retailer.
At that point, the county will need to have rules or regulations in place that can govern the sale of recreational use pot, or, the county will have to use the rules and regulations the state decides to use.
According to the county supervisor Fred Stump, at last Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting on March 21, the board gave county staff direction to begin to develop regulations, including what a potential tax on marijuana growing would look like.
“The board was faced with three choices,” Stump said in an email to his constituents after the meeting.
“The first was to do nothing and rely on state regulations. The board rejected this option because it would not allow for local community input.
“The second was to ban commercial activities in the county. The board rejected this option in recognition that activities are already occurring in the county without permits and probably would continue to do so.
This left the option the board chose,” i.e. to begin to hold meetings in the county and shape a policy with citizen input, he said.
There will likely be more community meetings on the subject over the next few months in other parts of the county as well.
He noted that all of this does not affect the right of adults to grow six plants indoors for their own consumption, which went into effect as soon as the Proposition passed last November.